It was designed by Samuel Lipson, architect, in conjunction with Robertson and Marks and McCredie and built from 1937 to 1938 by Kell & Rigby.

It was originally built for the firm of S. Hoffnung & Co. During the late 19th century and up to the 1950s, the area west of the Sydney central business district, that is west of George Street through to the former wharves on Darling Harbour, was characterised by businesses with functions and services associated with import and export, textile and clothing manufacturers, etc.

During the gold rush years of the 1850s-1860s Hoffnung (in partnership with Henry Nathan) prospered by supplying miners and settlers of the colony with provisions and stores.

[1] In April 1937 the company's premises at 163-171 Pitt Street were resumed by the Commonwealth Government for the proposed extensions to the Sydney GPO.

The size and architectural quality of these buildings suggest that the firm during the period 1850s to c. 1950s was an important member of Sydney's commercial trading houses.

[1] The Australian Red Cross was established in 1914 (as a consequence of the outbreak of hostilities at this time) as a branch of the British organisation.

[1] The design of the building is credited to Samuel Lipson in conjunction with the large Sydney architectural practice of Robertson, Marks and McCredie.

However the role of Robertson, Marks and McCredie in this relationship is not entirely clear as Lipson alone appears to have been responsible for the drawings prepared in the development stages of the project.

Lipson passed the Royal Institute of British Architects entrance examination in 1924, and in the following year migrated to Australia.

Connected with this work was the remodelling of the bank's head office at the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place.

Extant important work by this office up to the outbreak of World War II includes the Hoffnung Building (1937-8) and the Temple Emmanuel, Woollahra.

Steel frame windows with curved terminations at north and south ends and breakfronts at top level.

Recessed upper levels including plant rooms and water tanks with cement rendered surfaces and galvanised steel railings.

Internally the aesthetic of clean industrial quality finishes is exhibited in the system of columns and mushroom head capitals.

The building facades make a substantial contribution to the streetscape of both Kent and Clarence Streets by the use of texture brick relieved by the horizontal bands of windows, which in the instance of the principal front of Clarence Street is contrasted by the strong vertical element of the triangular window and Art Deco motif termination.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

[1] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.